Implement for marking roof rafter cuts and braces



Jan. 5 1926.

-J. D. WEAVER IMPLEMENT FOR MARKING ROOF RAFTEH CUTS AND BRACES Filed Dec. 7, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 5 1926.

- J. D. WEAVER IMPLEMENT FOR MARKING ROOF RAFTER CUTS AND BRACES Filed Dc.

'7, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 wnwassssQ ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 5, 1926.

UNITED STATES JOHN DUDLEY WEAVER, OF WOODRIVER, ILLINOIS.

IMPLEMENT FOR,MARKING ROOF RAFTER CUTS AND BRACES.

Application filed December 7, 1922.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, JOHN D. WEAVER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Woodriver, in the county of Madison and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Implements for Marking Roof Rafter Cuts and Braces, of whlch the following is a specification.

My invention relates to implements for marking roof rafter cuts which may be used for laying off the length of any of the rafters used in framin as well as determining directly the ang e of the out.

In roof construction, there are common, jack, cripple, hip and valley rafters, all of which should be cut to fit the vertical face at the ridge and to fit the horizontal face of the plate. The jack, cripple, hi i and valley rafters also have an additional evel cut at one end to fit the ridge board or other rafters to which they are oined. Heretofore, these cuts h'ave'ordinarily been marked by means of a steel square, bevel or similar implement,

and considerable calculation is necessary to get the required length correctly, and great care is required in'marking these cuts to prevent mistakes.

The general object of my invention is to provide an implement to take the place of the implements or tools heretofore used in the framing of roofs, which implement can be adjusted without difiiculty in accordance with a very simple series of graduations, and which, when properly adjusted, will mark the correct angles for the top and bottom cuts of the different rafters and braces, and will also give the correct length of the same.

More specifically, the invention is designed to provide a practical, positive and correct working tool that will eliminate mistakes by making it unnecessary to perform any calculations in working out the correct lengths and angles.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a tool of this character which is simply constructed and can be understood by an ordinary workman with only a few minutes of study or explanation.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a tool which has no protruding parts to interfere with its free use so that it may be applied directly to the rafters or braces, in order to mark the correct length and the an le of the out.

'Ihe invention will be best understood from the following description taken in con- Serial-No. 605,460.

nection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate one way in which my invention may be carried out.

In the drawings,

1 is a lan View of the invention. Fig. 2 is a ottom plan view.

Fig. 3'is a detail view of one of the adjustable' sectors.

4C is an edge view of the implement. Fig. 5 is a plan view of one end of the implement extended to show the graduations thereon.

Fig. 6 is a detail view of one of the sectors for marking the lateral bevel of a hip rafter or the like. Referring more specifically to the drawings, the implement is formed of two members 1 and 2, which are connected together for longitudinal adjustment by means of the slot- 3 and the set screws 4. One of the members, as 2, is provided on its inner face with two series of graduations 5 and 6, Figure 5,

which, in connection with the end 7 of the member 1, serve to mark the longitudinal adjustment of the implement, whereby its length will bear a definite ratio to the length of the rafter to be out. It is customary, in the trade, to distinguish the various pitches of the roofs by the number of inches rise for a 12-inch run, and for the same roof the pitch of the hip rafter would be the same number of inches in a 17-inch run; that is, the length of the hip rafter bears approximately a ratio of 17 to 12 to the length of the common rafters. I have, therefore, designated the graduations on the scales 5 and 6 in terms of a 12-inch run and 17-inch run, respectively, to mark the length of the common and the hip rafters. I

It is proposedto construct the implement of such length that when it is adjusted, it will correspond to a 2-foot run. In other words, themember 1 will be two feet long and, if the width of the building is 24-feet, six times the length of the implement when properly adjusted, will measure the length of the rafter for a gable or hip roof.

In order to provide means for measuring the length of a rafter corresponding to a span having an odd number of inches, I

have provided on the face of the member 2' a scale 8 Fig. 1, which marks the length to secured a set screw 27.

a 12-inch run. If it is desired to mark the length of a rafter corresponding to a span of 12 feet 6 inches, the length of the implement is laid off six times, and then a length is added corresponding to 6 inches, determined by the scale 8 for the given pitch, as designated at 9. This length is measured from the end 10 of the member 2. If, for example, the pitch is 7 inches to a 12-inch run, the distance to be added corresponding to a span of 6 inches will be the distance between the end 10 and the sixth vertical line terminating at the horizontal line marked 7. On the outer face of the member 1 is provided a scale of inches for the hip rafters, as indicated at 11. This scale is similar to the scale 8, but it is laid elf for a 17-inch run instead of a 12-inch run.

For determining th angle of the vertical cut at the upper end of a rafter, the member 1 is provided with an angular end 12, Fig. 2, the edge 13 thereof making an angle with the longitudinal edge of'the member which corresponds to the cut to be made for a 12/12 pitch, or, in other words, a 45-degree angle. A sector-shaped plate 14 is provided with graduations 15 which, read in connection with the edge 13, mark the successive increases in the angle of the cut which correspond to successive decreases in pitch. The sector 14 is adapted for adjustment by means of a screw 17 which cooperates with an arcuate countersunk slot 16. The opposite side of the sector 14; Fig. 1, is provided with graduations 18 to mark the angle of out for a 17 run, or, in other words, for the upper end of the hip rafters.

The outer end of the member 2 is provided with an angular extension 19, Fig. 5, the edge 20 of which forms an angle with the longitudinal edge of the member which corresponds to the smallest angle to be cut at th lower end of a hip rafter. In the present instance, I have indicated this as corresponding to a 6-inch rise in a 17-inch run, Fig. 1. For increasing this angle to correspond with various pitches. I have provided an adjustable arm 21 which is supported at one end by a link 22 provided with a slot 23 which, in connection with the set screw 24, provides means for securing th arm 21 at any angle desired, the arm being further supported by means of an additional link 25 provided with a slot 26 through which is The face of the link 22 is provided with graduations 28 and 29 which are read in connection with the edge 20 to determine the correct angle for the lower ends of the hip and common rafters, respectively.

The ends of the members 1 and 2 are also provided with right angular flanges 30 and 31, Fig. 4:, on which are mounted sectors 32 and 33, to mark the horizontal angle or bevel for cutting the upper and lower ends of the hip, valley, jack and cripple rafters. These sectors are adjusted by means of countersunk slots 34; and 35, in which set screws 36 and 37 are secured. The inner faces of the sectors 32 and 33 are provided with suitable graduations as indicated at 38 Fig. 6, for adjusting the same to correspond to the different pitches.

In order better to illustrate the operation of the invention, I have illustrated the same in Figs. 1 and 2 in the position to which it will be adjusted for marking the rafters corresponding to a. 9-inch pitch; that is, the length of the implement is set so that the end 7 of the member 1 registers with the mark of the scale 5. The sector 141- is set with the mar: 9 of the scale 15 coinciding with the line 13, and the mark 9 of the scale 29 coincides with the edge 20 of the arm 19.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have provided an implement which is very simple in construction and easily understood, even by an inexperienced workman, and all of the measurements and cuts used in roof framing may be easily and correctly obtained, and the chances of error are practically eliminated.

While, for the purpose of illustration, I have shown and described specifically one form in which my invention may b embodied, it will be understood that various modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

hat is claimed is 1. An instrument of the character described comprising two members relatively adjustable longitudinally and provided with suitably designated graduations for indicating the length of a rafter to be out, said graduations being so arranged that the length of the instrument adjusted according to the graduations bears the same ratio to the length of the rafter to be cut that the length of the instrument when fully contracted bears to one-half the width of the building.

2. i111 implement of the character described. comprising two members relatively adjustable longitudinally one upon the other and provided with two sets of graduat-ions, one for common rafters and the other for hip rafters corresponding to different roof pitches, means for securing the members to each other in various positions of adjustment, said graduations being so arranged that the entire length of the implement, when adjusted according to the graduations, bears a definite ratio to the length of the rafter to be cut, an angularly adjustable sector at each end of the implement. the edge of which forms an angle with the edge of the adjacent member for laying off the angles of the top and bottom cuts of the common and hip rafters respectively, eachsector being marked with graduations which cooperate with a point on the adjacent member to indicate the angle of adjustment required to correspond to various roof pitches.

3. {An implement of the character described, comprising two members relatively adjustable longitudinally one upon the other, means for securing the members to each other in various positions of adjustment, one of the members having two sets of graduations on the face contiguous to the other member and cooperating with the end thereof to measure the positlon of adjustment so that the entire implement eonstitutes a unit of length bearing the same ratio to the length of the rafters to be cut that the minimum length of the implement bears to onehalf the width of the building, an angularly adjustable sector at each end of the implement, the edge of which forms an angle with the edge of the adjacent member for laying off the angles of the cuts at;

the top and bottom of the common and hip rafters respectively, each sector a being marked with graduations which cooperate with a point on the adjacent member to indicate the angle of adjustment corresponding to various pitches.

4. An instrument of the character described comprising two members relatively adjustable longitudinally and provided with graduations for adjusting the length thereof to form a unit for measuring the length of a rafter corresponding to a given pitch, said unit corresponding to a run of two feet, and a scale of distances on the face of the instrument corresponding to the various pitches and indicating the lengths to be added for portions of the run under two feet in length.

5. An implement of the character described, comprising two elongated flat members relatively adjustable longitudinally one upon the other, means for securing themembers to each other in various relative positions of adjustment, one of the members having two sets of graduations on the face contiguous to the other member and providing scales by which the adjacent end of the other member may be set so that the entire implement provides a unit of length for measuring common and hip rafters re spectively for various pitches, said unit of length being an aliquot part of the length of said common or hip rafters corresponding to a run of an even number of feet, and scales of distances on a face ofthe implement corresponding to the various" pitches and indicating the lengths to be added'for the remaining inches of the run.

6. An implement of the character described, comprising two members with straight side edges and relatively adjustable longitudinally one upon the other and provided with suitably designated graduations for determining the adjustment to form a unit of length which bears a predetern'iined ratio to the length of a rafter to be measured, an arm having a straight edge adapted to form an angle with the side edge of one of said members, means for adjustably securing the arm to said member so as to form difierent angles, said securing means comprising a pair of arcuate links pivoted to the arm and having longitudinal slots therein, set screws mounted in said member and cooperating with the slots to hold the arm in the position to which it has angle equal to the angle at which the end of a rafter must be cut to correspond to a predetermined pitch, a flange extending from the end portion of the implement in a plane at right angles to the plane of the afore-mentioned angle, a sector angularly adjustable on the flange, and means for determining the adjustment of said sector so that the angle between its edge and the edge of said flange will measure the angle of the lateral bevel of a hip, jack or cripple rafter for a given pitch.

8. An implement of the character described having means for measuring the length of a rafter to'be cut, means at each end of the instrument for determining the angles of the top and bottom cuts of the common and hip rafters respectively for various roof pitches, a flange extending from each end portion of the implement, a sector angularly adjustable on the flange, each of said sectors being provided with graduations cooperating with a point on the implement to determine the position of the sector to measure the angle of the lateral bevel of jack and hip rafters respectively corresponding to a given roof pitch, and means for securing the sectors in the positlons to which they are adjusted.

9. An implement of the character described having means for determining the lengths of rafters to be cut and having at each end a lateral angular portion forming an angle equal to the smallest angle of cut to be measured, an extension for each angular portion and provided with graduations for marking adjustments of the same for various pitches, means for securing said extension in the position to which it has been adjusted, a flange extending from each end portion in a plane at right angles to the aforesaid lateral angular portion, a sector adjustahle on each flange for determining the angle of lateral bevel at the upper and lower ends respectively of jack and hip raft ers, and means for securing the sectors in the positions to which they are adjusted.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing 10 as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature.

JOHN DUDLEY WEAVER. 

